ITCM 24 - NirvanaD
Inside the Competitor's Mind 24 - NirvanaD NirvanaD’s post on the forum about Oniroku being female had amused me enough to post a little fashion related article in response. http://forums.dena.com/showthread.ph...anad#post34045 So naturally I wanted to find out more about him. I was amused when he asked if I could meet him after one of his martial arts sessions. Since I was curious about it, I agreed. This was a taekwondo session but he said he also practiced Xingyiquan. He’d actually learned xingyiquan first, but since it was more focused on the striking via the upper body, he had taken up taekwondo to complement it. I had to look up Xingyiquan, it was not a discipline I’d ever heard of. It’s Taoist in origin and most historians believe it was synthesized and perfected using existing Shaolin principles. I also looked up taekwando and was surprised to learn that it was Korean in origin. Somehow, I had erroneously tagged it as Japanese. In any case, I was looking forward to watching it. NirvanaD had explained that a typical session consisted of a warm up, i.e., some static exercises and a short 1.6km run; then target kicking session which used different techniques and footwork; which is then followed by a standard sparring session. Sometimes they also did poomsae practice, especially when it’s almost time for grading. The poomsae is the style of conduct which expresses directly or indirectly mental and physical refinements as well as the principles of offense and defense resulting from cultivation of Taekwondo spirit and techniques. “So was that a poomsae?” I asked him when he left the floor after the session. He laughed, “No! Thank goodness! I hate those.” I laughed in response. There was something boyishly charming about him. “Let’s sit over here!” he said eagerly as he led me to some benches. I chuckled as he angled himself so he could watch several of the girls as they sparred. “Sweet on one of them, are you?” He blushed, “Is it that obvious?” I laughed again, “Don’t worry, I won’t pry. Want to just start?” “So I started gaming when I was 10 yrs old. I’m 24 yrs now. Pokémon on Gameboy and a ton of games on the Playstation console. Mostly Japanese fantasy RPG, action games, fighting games and wrestling games on the consoles when I was younger. And then later, I played lots of MMORPG, and moba games such as DotA 2 and League of Legends. And I like hearthstone too.” He paused to take a healthy swig of water. “I draw a lot and I study many different artists' work and their art style. BB2 has some of the best artwork I have seen in a mobile game. All i can say is that I got ‘hooked' on the artwork. The setting and dialogue is also pretty good and have some Game of Thrones vibes to them, and since I'm a Game of Thrones fan, that was a plus too.” He grimaced, “I don’t like the grinding. The power balance on the commanders is also an issue. I get that they want to make new commanders unique and attractive enough for people to throw in some money, but overpowering previous commanders is not a good idea. I also think that there is a lack of creativity resulting in insufficient skill variations. As for PVP arena,” he snorted in derision, “Well, I assume that it will be fixed soon, so I won't go into that.” Eyes lighting up in fun, he talked about his player name, “I come up with a different IGN in the different games I play. I seldom reuse a name. NirvanaD is my IGN and forum ID for BB2, and it means Nirvana Disciple. In my religion, achieving nirvana is what one would attain at the end when all karma disappears, and I think it sounds cool too.” A slight frown marred his brows as he contemplated the guilds. “I’m not in a guild and I do not plan to join one anytime soon, because I like being solo. I have experienced the pros and cons of joining a guild in other games before, and I think being a free man just suits me better. I do not like being tied down nor being lead by others, hence the decision. However, if the game forces players to join guilds by putting gameplay advantages available only when you join one, I might have no choice but to consider joining one in the future.” His serious tone continued. “f2p vs p2p doesn't really matter to me, as long as the game lives. But I do think that in order for a game to live for a long time, you need both of them. A huge f2p that is impressed by the game and spread the word to friends for potential p2p, and a decent amount of p2p to sustain and support the game so that it will live for a very long time. This is important, especially since it’s DeNA, who is known for cutting off non-profitable games without mercy. So in all, what is ‘best for business; needs to be done. You need frequently updated quality content and well balanced gameplay/mechanics. Though the standard is not up there yet, I do think it will get better soon. There’s an obvious effort on the part of the BB2 team.” “Mods are humans too and all humans have different opinions, thoughts, values, whatever. The mods probably did what they did is right and I don't see a big deal out of the things they done. But like I said all human beings think differently and there are individuals out there who think and feel differently. I have nothing against the mods and I think some of them do a really good job. I do like Spankie as a mod. He is really cool and has a great attitude in the forums.” “I only play in events to get a commander with artwork that I like,” he grinned sheepishly at me, “I do not climb leaderboards competitively, unfortunately. The effort needed is too much for me and I'm not that competitive.” Just then, one of the girls he’d been watching came up to speak to him. I smiled at the excitement in his eyes and the blush on his cheeks. I rose and waved discreetly at him before leaving him with someone he’d much rather be talking to. Category:Mizy Category:ITCM